DENR-7 vows to pursue case vs students, teachers

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources vowed to exhaust all means to pursue the case against those responsible for dissecting eight Black Shamas for a school research following the dismissal of the complaint by the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office.

The prosecutor’s office dismissed the case filed by DENR-7’s Protected and Wildlife Division against three Bachelor of Science in Biology students and four teachers of Cebu Normal University and one teacher from University of San Carlos for lack of merit.

“We will file a motion for reconsideration before the office of the city prosecutor before the deadline on February 27. We have to reiterate our stand that the killing of the Black Shama is a clear violation of Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Conservation Act,” said DENR-7 spokesperson Eddie Llamedo.

Prosecutor Mary Ann Castro, in dismissing the complaint, said that “dissecting” Black Shama also known as Siloy is not tantamount to “killing” or “destroying” it since it was done for research purposes and that the accused have obtained permit from DENR.

But DENR-7 refuted by reiterating their stand that it was killing and illegal.

“The research does not justify the killing of these species. There are two justifications that authorize the use of the species for research but absolutely no killing. There should be a memorandum of agreement and special agreement in protected area. But, we’d like to emphasize that no killing is done on those species. We will continue to discharge our mandate of going after those who have desecrated our environment including our wildlife species. This will not discourage us from doing our function,” Llamedo said.

The college thesis for which the research was done was entitled “Diet and Preference of Cebu Black Shama in Cebu Island.”

Black Shama locally known as “Siloy” and with scientific name “Copsychus Cebuensis,” is an endangered bird species endemic in Cebu especially in the south.

It is roughly 20 centimeters small, considered medium sized, and famous for its melodious voice akin to singing.— (FREEMAN)